The Chat
Buchanan County Bird Club Newsletter
Editors Roger and Lynda Mayhorn

The Buchanan County Bird Club meets the
2^nd Monday of each month at the
Buchanan County Public Library at 6:00 PM

Volume 4     Issue 10     October 2005

Instead of a regular meeting club members met at Poplar Gap Park for an evening picnic and birding around the park. The food was good, the weather was nice and Nighthawks were found in the park.

NEXT MEETING – Monday, October 10 at the Public Library. Roger Mayhorn and Ed Talbott will show some photos of the recent Warbler Watch Day, Birch Knob hawk watch and the hawk watch at the Channels on Clinch Mt. 

Saturday, October 29 – Annual Sparrow Day at Guesses Fork. Once again Michelle Talbott and her parents, Billy and Shirley Justus, have graciously invited the bird club to bird their property at Guesses Fork of Hurley to search for the many migrating sparrow species that pass through their property. In addition to the regularly seen sparrow species such as Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrows, White-throated, White Crowned and Swamp, unusual species for the area such as Lincoln’s, Vespers and Henslow’s have been found there. The two Ed Talbotts usually build a fire and heat the chili for the wiener roast that takes place after the morning of birding. Come out and enjoy the birds and good food.
[ Click Here for Details on BCBC Sparrow Day ]

The first male Wilson’s Warbler ever reported in Buchanan County was found by Roger Mayhorn in his yard on the evening of September 7. Roger was able to get a couple of photos of the bird as it hopped around in a Snowball bush before it flew from the area. The bird’s black cap can be seen in the photo. On September 22 David Raines found another Wilson’s Warbler at his home on Middle Fork of the Breaks community. This warbler was observed near a small stream on the Raines’ property. It had just a hint of black on its head, which led David to think it was a first year male. It makes you wonder what natural events brought two Wilson’s Warblers and probably many more to this area at this particular time, when none had ever been reported here in years past. 

On September 30 Roger and Lynda Mayhorn were driving along a ridge in Dickenson County, not far from John Flannagan Reservoir. They noticed a bird sitting on a power line to the right of the highway. Roger thought at first that it was a Mourning Dove, but soon realized that the bird was larger than a dove, and that the body shape was different. This light gray bird had dark coloring around the eyes, had a hooked beak like a hawk, and had a tail that was squared off at the end. The Mayhorns realized that they were looking at a Mississippi Kite, a raptor that normally lives along the Atlantic coast, the southern coast of the U.S. and along the Mississippi River waterway. As far as is known by members of the Buchanan County Bird Club, this species has not been recorded in the area before. As the Mayhorns’ vehicle drew closer, the kite turned its back, then flew off over the trees, leaving Roger and Lynda looking at each other in amazement.

Richard Kretz, a birder and bird photographer, who lives at Elk Garden, took this photo of an adult Black-crowned Night Heron that he found at Stuart’s Pond at Rosedale VA on September 10. This may be the first record for an adult Black-crowned Night Heron in Russell County. According to Dave Worley immature Black-crowns have been found there on two previous occasions, 8/18/97 and 5/14/2000. Richard plans to soon become a member of the Buchanan County Bird Club. During the summer he has gotten to know Roger and Ed Talbott. Richard has been birding only a short time, but has learned a great deal about identifying birds. He came to the Mayhorn home on Warbler Watch Day on September 10, but was there a few days earlier to photograph some of the migrants passing through. 

Warbler Watch Day on Compton Mt.

The Mayhorns hosted 37 birders at their home on Compton Mt on Saturday, September 10. Birders came from as far away as the eastern coast of Virginia, from Ohio, West Virginia and Tennessee to watch the different migratory species pass through the Mayhorns’ property. The birds were cooperative with 55 species being counted for the day. Some of the highlights of the day were Blackburnian and Tennessee Warblers, Yellow-throated Warblers, Cape May Warblers, Black-and-white Warblers, American Redstarts, Black-throated Green Warblers, Black-throated Blue Warblers, Hooded Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Chestnut-sided Warblers and a Canada Warbler. Other migrants included Scarlet Tanagers, Cedar Waxwings, Chimney Swifts, Purple Martins and one lone Common Nighthawk that flew over.

Lynda Mayhorn prepared the main course for lunch, and lots of desserts were brought by the birders.  Later in the day a Sharp-shinned Hawk zipped low over the yard within a few feet of some of the birders. During a short walk on the trail that runs along the edge of the woods Wild Turkeys crossed the trail just in front of the group. It was a very enjoyable day with some birders getting new birds for their life lists. 

Dave Worley saw a flock of Common Nighthawks flying over his house near Rosedale, VA on September 12. Flocks like this can be seen during the evening every year at this time, as these birds head to their southern wintering grounds. 

David Raines had some good birds passing through his area in the Breaks on September 15 and 16. The warblers he saw included Magnolias, Tennessees, Yellow-throated and Cape May. Other good birds were Scarlet Tanagers, a Northern Mockingbird, Gray Catbirds, a Brown Thrasher, American Robins, Eastern Bluebirds, Chimney Swifts, Common Nighthawks and Broad-winged Hawks.

Some other good birds that David has been seeing around his place are:
Willow Flycatcher, Black-throated Green Warbler and Rose-breasted Grosbeak on September 21
Indigo Buntings in the cane field, Gray Catbirds and Sharp-shinned Hawk on September 22
Red-breasted Nuthatch, Red-eyed and White-eyed Vireos and Common Yellowthroats on September 25
A male Prairie Warbler, Blue-headed Vireo and the first Lincoln’s Sparrow of the season on September 30
A late Ruby-throated Hummingbird, Red phase Eastern Screech Owl, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Red-shouldered, Red-tailed and Cooper’s Hawks, Barred Owls and the first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season on October 1. 

Dave had the first Savannah Sparrow of the season on October 2. 

Two Mourning Warblers showed up in the Mayhorns’ small pond stream on September 21. Roger first saw a dark hooded male, but it left before he could photograph it. A few moments later this 1st year female came to the stream. This is only the second time this species has been seen at their place in the past 33 years. 

The Great Channels are a maze of walkways cut by nature into the 40 foot high Clinch Mt sandstone on Clinch Mt a couple of miles from Raven Ridge Bed and Breakfast and Campground owned by Charles and Alona Kennedy. On September 18 Ed Talbott led a birding/hawk watching hike for the Clinch Mt Birding Festival to the Channels atop 4200 foot Clinch Mt. Along with Ed were his wife, Michelle, Charles Kennedy, Roger Mayhorn, Richard Kretz and Hungry Mother Park employee, Angela Fields.

After reaching the fire tower at the top of the mountain, the group first explored the Channels before searching for passing raptors. As the day progressed the birders counted 87 passing Broad-winged Hawks, 3 Cooper’s Hawks, 2 Sharp-shinned Hawks, 2 Red-tailed Hawks and 1 Red-shouldered Hawk. 

Birch Knob Hawk Watching

David Raines, Ed & Michelle Talbott, Marie Miller, Tom Dye and Roger and Lynda Mayhorn went to Birch Knob atop 3100+ feet Pine Mt in Dickenson County to watch for migrating hawks on September 24. It was a hazy day, which made for difficult viewing, and only 37 Broadwings were counted. A few days previously on Sept 19 David Raines, his cousin, Steve Sweeney and Roger and Lynda Mayhorn were at the same location and counted 150 Broadwings and 1 Cooper’s Hawk.

On October 2 Ed and Michelle Talbott birded the hollow near their house at Weller Yard called Caney Island Branch. They found 8 warbler species including Tennessee Warblers, Magnolia Warblers, Common Yellowthroats, Yellow-throated Warbler, Bay-breasted Warbler, Black-throated Green Warbler, Hooded Warbler and Cape May Warbler. 

In addition to the warblers and local resident birds they found Red-eyed, Blue-headed and Yellow-throated Vireos, Scarlet Tanagers, Swainson’s Trush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, Wood Thrush, Northern Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Great Blue Heron and Wood Duck. Ed and Michelle also found their first Yellow-bellied Sapsucker of the season.

Since October 1 the first Brown Creeper of the season, like the one in this photo, has been coming to the suet feeder at Ed and Mary Talbott’s house at Big Rock, VA. These small brown birds with a decurved (down curved) beak can be seen looking for insects on the trunk bark of large trees. 

This year the club had 78 nest boxes in place by nesting season. There were

78 nesting attempts – all species (Bluebirds, Chickadees, Tree Swallows, Tufted Titmice)
353 eggs laid
298 eggs hatched
266 birds fledged – That’s only a 75% success rate – Late cold weather and predators (flying squirrels and House Sparrows)

The Bluebirds had:

51 nesting attempts
232 eggs laid
200 eggs hatched
173 birds fledged – 75% success rate

The club owes a debt of thanks to David Raines and to Johnnie and Betty Ratliff for taking the time each week from April through August to check the boxes and collect the data. Even if it is a labor of love, it is time consuming and sometimes hot work, while having to deal with wasps and other annoying critters.

Following is a chart showing all of this year’s data in more detail. Thanks also to my wife, Lynda, for helping me (Roger Mayhorn) check the boxes of the Compton Mt and David Raines Trail (Breaks Park).